| On foreign policy, a confident Trump removes his training wheels Posted: 27 Dec 2018 01:06 PM PST ![On foreign policy, a confident Trump removes his training wheels]( "On foreign policy, a confident Trump removes his training wheels") In the days preceding last July's NATO summit in Brussels that President Trump was set to attend, administration officials including Defense Secretary James Mattis worked around the clock with European allies to seal a summit declaration before the alliance leaders' meeting even began. The rush by Mr. Mattis and others to complete a deal they knew might not sit well with their boss – who had consistently aired his doubts about the benefits of international defense alliances like NATO and his disdain for what he considered to be freeloading allies – was striking. What it displayed was one more example of Mr. Trump's top national security advisers working around the president's skepticism and unpredictability toward traditional allies to confirm America's unaltered global leadership role.
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| New missiles and old treaties Posted: 27 Dec 2018 11:46 AM PST ![New missiles and old treaties]( "New missiles and old treaties") Monitor correspondent Dan Sneider was on hand at Kapustin Yar, the "windswept flatlands of the vast Russian steppe," as he wrote in May 1991. Instead, yesterday Mr. Putin attended the test launch of a new class of intercontinental missile capable of traveling as fast as 20 times the speed of sound (15,000 miles per hour) and able to adjust its course en route to further avoid defense systems.
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| Why the Supreme Court may be taking a ‘go slow’ approach Posted: 27 Dec 2018 09:21 AM PST ![Why the Supreme Court may be taking a 'go slow' approach]( "Why the Supreme Court may be taking a 'go slow' approach") The United States Supreme Court term so far has been highlighted as much by what the court hasn't done as what it has. The high court naturally backloads much of its work, with its impact on American society often unloaded in a deluge of June decisions. This term has also seen oral arguments in several important cases, ranging from the scope of the Endangered Species Act to civil asset forfeiture.
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| Not just a Western effort: immigrants helping immigrants Posted: 27 Dec 2018 08:14 AM PST ![Not just a Western effort: immigrants helping immigrants]( "Not just a Western effort: immigrants helping immigrants") The story began with a Canadian man named Stephen Watt. A man who, like thousands of other citizens of this country, was jolted in 2015 from the comforts of his middle-class life to aid victims of far-off conflict in Syria.
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